Alchemy Journal Vol.4 No.2

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Alchemy Journal Vol.4 No.2.
Volume 4 No. 2 Autumn 2003
ARTICLES
History of Alchemy in America - Part 3
Meditation on the Emerald Tablet
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 Alchemy Journal Vol.4 No.2.
The History of Alchemy in America
- Part 3
by
M.A.
T
his third and final installment of the series about
alchemical history in the U.S. begins with Richard and
Isabella Ingalese and concludes with the Philosophers of
Nature (PON) in the 1990’s.
Richard and Isabella Ingalese: The Nicholas and
Perenelle of California
The East Coast wasn't the only place of alchemical
transmutations in the first half of this century. The land of
the "Gold Rush," California, is home to America's own
immortal alchemical couple. In the vein of Nicholas and
Perenelle Flamel, these two American originals are
reputed to have achieved "The Stone" and live on to this
day. Left mostly to oral lore and legend, the story of the
Ingaleses first appeared in print in the November 1928
issue of
Occult Review
, and later was mentioned in a
sidebar on "Alchemy" in the encyclopedia,
Man, Myth,
and Magic
, in 1970.
Their early years are unremarkable with the couple
marrying in 1898. Richard was a lawyer specializing in corporate and mining law, and Isabella was a
full time psychic, teacher, and healer. They lived in several locations across the country, until settling in
Los Angeles around 1912.
In the 1928 article, the author, Barbara McKenzie, interviews Isabella regarding how she and her
husband became interested in alchemy. With the approach of advancing age, Mrs. Ingalese states,
she and her Richard sought to discover the Philosopher's Stone so that they might "..perhaps add
another score of working years to man's so-called allotted span." Despite the many blinds and false
routes given to alchemical work, the couple pursued their work guided by Mrs. Ingalese's psychic gifts.
In a pamphlet written by Richard, he describes their original goal as the creation of Oil of Gold, but
instead chose to work with copper because of the cheaper price.
After six years of work, two mortgages, several explosions, and two asphyxiations later, Richard
states that in 1917, they were able to produce the White Stone of the Philosophers. McKenzie was
offered a sample of the White Powder, but readily accepted a sample of the Red Stone. It is not clear
why she accepted one and refused the other, however, she records her experiences as follows: "..it
was little more - on my tongue, saying it must lie there and not be swallowed. I immediately noticed an
intense bitterness, which is said to be the gold, but other metals I could not detect. In two or three
seconds it had been absorbed or dispersed, so that not even a flavor remained in my mouth."
Continuing their search for the Red Stone from 1917 to 1920, the Ingaleses felt they had achieved
Alchemy Journal Vol.4 No.2.
success and shared their results with members of their "renewal club," possibly made up of investors
who supported their alchemical research. At the time of their discovery and potentizing of the Red
Stone, Robert was 66 and Isabella 54 years of age. Richard states that they did not respond as well as
others to the curative powers of the Stone. However, the usual claims of virility, fertility, and incurables
being cured, are reported. Ms. McKenzie notes that she was unable to verify any of the Inglases claims
in this regard. Richard is quoted as noting that they were familiar with other alchemists who were over
600, 400, and 200 years old. All looking and acting as if they were "about 40 years of age." The most
remarkable part of the story however, is Richard's matter of fact description of the resurrection of the
wife of a prominent physician who had been dead for thirty minutes.
"Half an hour had elapsed and her body was growing cold. A dose of the dissolved White Stone was
placed into the mouth of the corpse without perceptible results. Fifteen minutes later a second dose
was administered and the heart commenced to pulsate weakly. Fifteen minutes later a third dose was
given and soon the woman opened her eyes. In the course of a few weeks the woman became
convalescent, after which she lived seven years."
As for the methods they used, Isabella states that they followed the methods of Paracelsus,
particularly Waite's edition of
The Alchemical and Hermetic Writings of Paracelsus
, but no further
details were forthcoming. Several books were written by the couple, but are very difficult to obtain.
While stories of their longevity survived them, it is quite clear that the Ingaleses died in 1934, Isabella
in May and Richard in October. Extensive debts were piled against their property, which included 440
acres of land in San Diego. The property was awarded to the plaintiff to satisfy the suit, and
surprisingly, the property was acquired by a New Thought group in 1940, being operated as spiritual
center continuously ever since.
It would be nice to believe that Isabella and Richard are still alive and that their deaths had been
faked, but evidence is to the contrary. Unlike their alchemical predecessors, the age of bureaucracies
was catching up with them. Death certificates on file in Los Angeles are full of details prior to and
immediately following their deaths, as well as the causes. Maybe this should be a lesson to would be
seekers of immortality, that even if death can be escaped, or at least delayed, you still need to have a
Social Security Number.
How many students, all members of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC that practiced alchemy at RCU is
not easily known, however, at least two of its alumni would re-emerge later on: George Fenzke, and
Dr. Albert Richard Riedel, better known by his pseudonym, "Frater Albertus".
Frater Albertus
While AMORC had done much to re-vivify the study of laboratory alchemy in twentieth century
America, it was one of its students that would make it accessible to more than just the members of
one, albeit large, esoteric fraternity. Dr. Albert Riedel, remembered by Frater Graves as "a little too
complicated for the rest of us" went on to publish at least nine books, two of which have become
almost standard reading:
The Alchemist's Handbook
, and
The Seven Rays of the QBL
.
It was in 1960 that his first title appeared, under the pseudonym "Albertus Spagyricus, F.R.C." which
included the "Alchemical Manifesto 1960" declaring the opening of the Paracelsus Research Society.
The use of the initials "F.R.C." after his name not only designates a general Rosicrucian connection,
but also may have been an allusion to his having attained a particular status within the grade system of
AMORC. At the Paracelsus Research Society (PRS) Frater Albertus conducted classes on plant,
mineral, metallic, and animal alchemy. In the beginning , classes lasted for three two-week sessions,
and were later expanded for a period of seven years, under the Latin titles of
Prima, Secunda,
etc.
Albertus' specialty was spagyrics, along with antimony based on the alchemical text,
Triumphal Chariot
Alchemy Journal Vol.4 No.2.
of Antimony
. In addition, Qabalah, and specialized applications of astrology were taught. Among his
students were his former classmate at RCU, George Fenzke, Hans Nintzel
, who was sent there by
Irael Regardie (who also studied with Albertus) and Art Kunkin, founder of the L.A. Free Press, and
inheritor of Regardie's library.
For over a quarter of a century, Albertus initiated hundreds of students into the modern practices of
alchemy. Over 600 by one estimate attended his classes. Yet, in 1984, when he died, the Paracelsus
Research Society was left without a successor; Albertus never planned for one. His dream of an
alchemical university never materialized, although some of his students attempted it. After a brief
period as the Parcelsus College, it finally closed its doors.
AMORC: Round Three
By 1988, the need for a new laboratory alchemical movement was growing. Many of the former
students of Fr. Albertus were also current or former members of AMORC, as well as students of the
Golden Dawn. It was at this time, that the administrators of RCUI approached Jack Glass to teach a
new two-week class on alchemy in San Jose, California In addition to being a member of AMORC,
Glass brought with him over thirty years of experience in alchemy, fourteen of them with Albertus.
George Fenske, Albertus' old classmate, co-taught the class as well.
The first class debuted in June of 1989 and had over 40 students enrolled. Unfortunately, less than a
year after the fires of the ovens were re-kindled, Frater Fenzke passed through transition in April of
1990. In an attempt to fill the void left by his passing, Glass asked Russell B. House to co-instruct the
program. The course was originally designed to last for three years, with each class lasting for two
weeks for eight hours per day. Plant, mineral, and metallic work were taught, with each class building
on the work of the previous one. Originally, the classes were to be open only to those members of
AMORC who had attained its
Illuminati
section, or beyond its Ninth Degree. This was later dropped
and they were made available to any AMORC member who had completed the previous class, and
was in the Fourth Degree or beyond. In 1991 the classes were shortened to one week each year.
Alchemy I
covered the basics of plant preparation, as well as history and theory. Herbal elixirs,
tinctures, and methods of producing the 'plant stone' were examined and experimented with. The
second year of the program consisted of Alchemy II or the mineral kingdom. Here tinctures were
prepared with the toxic semi-metal antimony, along with oil of sulfur and tartar preparations. The
curriculum for year three included the preparation of oils or "Sulfurs" for the seven planetary metals,
and illusive Philosophic Mercury.
The program was so successful that a two-day intensive for RCUI extension campuses was
developed with enough information to allow students to begin their own explorations into the world of
plant work, or the Lesser Circulation. This program of activity was conducted by both Glass and House
until 1993. After a brief period of inactivity, the program was re-instituted, and at the time of this writing
is being taught by a former student of George Fenske.
Alden, LPN, and The Philosophers of Nature
After the demise of PRS, Paracelsus College was not the only one trying to keep alchemy alive. Scott
Wilber, an AMORC member and PRS alumni, founded Alden Research. Presumably taking its name
from H. Spencer Lewis's esoteric name "Alden", it attempted to verify early alchemical experiments to
see if they matched chemical experiences.
An associate of Wilber's, in 1985 heard from Hans Nintzel about a French alchemical organization
Alchemy Journal Vol.4 No.2.
called "Les Philosopes de le Nature" (LPN) founded by Jean Dubuis in 1979.
Dubois actually
began his alchemical studies with one of the alchemical kits supplied by AMORC, and in addition was
a former high ranking member of the AMORC in France and the Traditional Martinist Order (TMO).
Dubuis derived some of his early work from research done by Albertus and PRS, and acknowledges a
debt to Albertus for connecting alchemy and kabbalah. At the time, LPN was the only school of its kind
offering a complete course of plant and mineral alchemical studies, along with kabbalah, and general
esoteric studies. It required no oaths of secrecy from its members, only that they respect the copyright
and ownership of the materials they received. All true initiation was seen as being strictly a personal
and interior thing, not something conveyable by external means.
After making contact with LPN in France, arrangements were made for the lessons to be sent to the
United States for translation into English. Initial funds for the project were supplied by Bill van Doren
who had completed seven years of alchemical study with Albertus in PRS. However, it was made clear
by Dubuis, that neither LPN nor he would accept any money for the lessons, they were given freely to
the United States with no strings attached. This was his gift to esoteric students here, and in other
English speaking countries that would derive benefit from the subsequent translations.
In 1986, LPN-USA was officially founded, and in 1994 changed its name to The Philosophers of
Nature (PON) to show its independent status from the French parent organization.
Conclusion
So how many alchemists are there in the United States? There is no way to really tell. While several
hundred have been trained by AMORC and LPN/PON classes and seminars, and 600 or more by
Albertus, many of them overlap. According to Samuel Weiser Publications
, Frater Albertus'
Alchemist's Handbook
is in its fifth edition, making a total of 12,500 copies in print. How many copies
of Manfred Junius's
Practical Handbook of Plant Alchemy
have been published is unknown, but could
easily equal that of Albertus's book. So, does that mean that there are over 12,000 or 13,000 practical
alchemists in America? Probably not. It would be surprising if over five percent of that total number
actually continue laboratory work on a regular basis.
However, we do know, that alchemy is still alive, and very well in America. AMORC continues its
summer courses in San Jose, with an occasional off-site seminar; PON distributes lessons and holds
yearly week long seminars and weekend workshops, and many of the PRS alumni quietly go about
their business of teaching what they have learned, the old fashioned way. Even the Internet has a
Website by Adam McLean complete with an alchemical course ready for the downloading; along with
PON's site offering sample courses for the esoterically curious.
Maybe Albertus' predictions of a new Golden Age of Alchemy, with scientist and layman working alike
is right on target.
So, as we enter the 21st century, the future for alchemy at least, looks bright. Maybe with this many
people grinding, boiling, and macerating into the lonely hours of the morning, somebody will actually
find the Philosopher's Stone. If they do, hopefully they'll break their pledge of secrecy and share it with
me!
____________________________
NOTES
ese is summarized from Tim Scott's article, "Did They Confect
the Philosophers Stone? An Updated Report on 20th Century Testimony," The Stone, July 1996.
Pgs.1-6.
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